


Falling With the Flowers

by YaoiHeaven



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Heavy Angst, M/M, Mild Blood, Mutual Pining, Not Beta Read, Oma Kokichi Needs a Hug, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:42:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29761899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaoiHeaven/pseuds/YaoiHeaven
Summary: Kokichi’s health continues to slowly deteriorate, and the flowers just won’t stop. The roots continue to wrap around his lungs, and he doesn’t have much time left. He longs for it to stop, but he can’t bring himself to do the surgery or die....But would Shuichi even care?
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede & Saihara Shuichi, Hinata Hajime & Oma Kokichi, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Iruma Miu & Oma Kokichi, Kokichi Oma & Nagito Komaeda & Hajime Hinata & Miu Iruma, Komaeda Nagito & Oma Kokichi, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 106





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic for the Danganronpa fandom! I’d like to begin by saying thanks for stopping by to read this! It’s probably a bit late to be writing Saiouma but I reallyyyy wanted to so I hope you guys like this sorry! Feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> Enjoy!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A look from Kokichi’s point of view.

_Man this sucks._ Kokichi grits his teeth as he wipes away the blood with his sleeve. After making up the absolute weakest excuse to Shuichi, he ran off and hid himself in the bathroom stall, practically throwing his guts up. The burning sensation still won’t go away, but at least it’s better than throwing up a bunch of flowers.

Kokichi rests his head against the stall door, panting heavily. He feels a bit dizzy, may be an effect of the medicine he took earlier... Oh well, what’s done is done. Hopefully Shuichi doesn’t find him while he’s in here.

 _I’m really running out of time, huh._ He thinks bitterly, holding back a snort. He’s had this stupid disease for about three months now, and even the doctors are saying that there isn’t much time left. Three weeks at best. 

DICE were really desperate, trying and failing to convince him to do the damn surgery. Now he really snorts. Pfft. As if.

Shaking his head, he quickly flushes the toilet and cleans himself up. The blood loss seems to really be getting to him, he has trouble even getting to door now.

“Kokichi! Did it happen again!” The voice of his best friend bounces down the wall and he winces. Good thing there wasn’t anyone around.

“Nagito, hushh, no one’s supposed to know!” Kokichi hisses when Nagito reaches him. He smiles sheepishly. Then his expression turns grim.

“Sorry, I just heard from Shuichi that you ran off and I knew what happened. I assumed you’d be in the bathroom so I came to get you as fast as I could. Did you...?” Nagito doesn’t even have to finish the question before he knows the answer. He sighs.

“Let’s bring you to Mikan. She’ll give you a checkup,” Nagito says as he leads Kokichi to the nurses. “Class starts in another twenty minutes, but I’m pretty sure we can get you cleaned up before that.”

“Heh, alright.”

Nagito... is really special to him, really. Probably his best friend, along with Shuichi and Miu. Like a brother. He’s eternally grateful for the fact that Nagito didn’t push him to do the surgery, like his real family, DICE, did. (He cares about what they think, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Lose his feelings for Shuichi forever? He’d rather die.) 

The only people he trusted with knowing about the disease was Nagito and DICE. Sure, he would’ve told Miu, but with her bigmouth, she’d spill the beans to their class almost instantly (Sorry not sorry, Miu). 

Maybe his trust for Nagito came from Nagito’s own experience with Hanahaki. Nagito had had Hanahaki for about four months before Hajime found out, and now they were together. However, Kokichi knows how much Nagito suffered. He cringes thinking about it, the crying, the flowers, the blood, the hopelessness of it all. Even Nagito, being the hope fanatic he was, couldn’t make a single hope joke for a month straight. And Kokichi was so happy for him and Hajime. But he’d never admit it out loud, of course.

It was quite rare for anyone in Hopes Peak to have Hanahaki, really... he’d only ever heard of Nagito and an upperclassman named Aoi Asahina have it. So if anyone were to find out that he has Hanahaki, they’d seriously go crazy. And for a person like Kokichi, how the hell could he have even gotten Hanahaki in the first place? Someone as heartless as him... ah, details, details.

As he makes his way to the nurses office with Nagito, he sees Mikan, who fumbles with a glass of medicine when she notices them.

“O-Oh, Ko-Kokichi? A-And Nagito? Is it about K-Kokichi’s...” Nagito nods firmly.

“I’ll put him in your care for now, alright Mikan? Make sure to let me know if _anything_ happens.” His serious expression surprises even Kokichi himself. 

At that, Mikan straightens up, a fire of determination in her eyes that he rarely sees from her. “I understand, leave him to me.”

Nagito leaves after that, giving them both a smile, leaving Mikan and Kokichi alone. Mikan reaches into the shelf she was working on and passed him a strange looking bottle.

“I-I developed this with Seiko, it s-should lessen the pain j-just a bit-” and as she says this, she stumbles over the leg of her chair and falls in a rather... compromising position. She quickly stands up, handing him the medicine, and begins apologizing profusely.

Kokichi holds up a hand. “Heyy it’s fine Mikan, but try saving that for your future girlfriend or whatever. Remember, I’m gay.” He bops her on the forehead when she hangs her head in shame. “Really, it’s okay. Just tell me how this medicine works and I’ll be on my way!”

Mikan looks at him, twiddling her fingers. “W-Well it says so on the label, but take two pills before breakfast or lunch, once a week, flush it down with water, and then you’re good. You can start taking it in a w-week, since y-you’ll need time off of y-your current medication. But r-remember, don’t e-eat any more than that, because i-it’s a very strong medicine a-and there will be some side effects. Like f-fainting, drowsiness, or even—”

“Okie dokie, I gotcha! Just take two every week, start next week, down it with water, and don’t overdose! Thanks Mikan, but however much I might wanna continue this conversation, I kinda gotta leave for class, it starts in like five minutes, see ya!” Kokichi quickly recites before waving and walking off in the direction of the door.

“—or even vomiting f-flowers...” Mikan finishes weakly, but Kokichi had already left the room.

***

Kokichi walks into his classroom five minutes late, arms behind his head. The teacher gives him a long look and then her eyes widen in realization. Then she simply nods her head towards his seat near the back of the classroom.

A perk of having Hanahaki, he guessed. Being able to arrive to class late. But probably the only perk.

Someone pokes his shoulder from behind him with a pencil. It was Miu.

“Hey, shota. Why’d you arrive to class late again today? I’m beginning to think Miss Teach over there is favoring you over us, geez,” she whispers, but Kokichi can tell that there was a hint of concern in her voice.

“Nothing, nothing, ‘Ruma-chan,” he says cheekily. Part of him feels bad for lying to Miu, but it’d probably be better if she didn’t know. At least for now.

She grimaces at the nickname and turns her attention back to the whiteboard in the front of the class. Kokichi does too, but not before he catches a hint of gold in the corner of his eyes.

 _Gold... Gold like Shuichi’s eyes..._ At that thought and realization, Kokichi’s eyes widen just a fraction before he composes himself. He holds back a violent cough and instead chooses to let out a quiet, muffled one into his scarf. Everytime he thinks if Shuichi, this happens...

...and he thinks of Shuichi a lot. A lot more than anyone would expect, anyway.

(He ignores the burning in his lungs when he thinks of how he can feel a pair of eyes staring him down, almost definitely Shuichi’s.)

***

The second the bell rings, Kokichi makes a dash to the bathroom. It’s currently lunchtime, so the halls would be filling in no time. He has to be quick. 

He throws open the bathroom door, runs into a stall, and grabs the edges of the toilet seat, throwing up the flowers. The thorns claw up his throat, tearing it up, blood splattering against the sides of the toilet. Tears threaten to spill out his eyes, making his vision go blurry. Kokichi heaves and wipes his eyes hurriedly. 

Shit. That’s the worst it’s gotten so far.

Kokichi suddenly thinks about Shuichi, his bright, golden eyes, his long eyelashes, his cute ahoge, his shy and firm personality... and he lurches over the toilet seat again. 

By the end of it, Kokichi’s a sweating mess and can barely lift a finger. Ah... he has to... get out...

He looks into the toilet and almost gags at the sight of the flowers. Bellflowers, purple freesia, fuchsia, hyacinth, forget me nots, morning glory, and a bunch of other different blue and purple flowers that he can’t care to figure out. All covered in dark red blood. He chuckles bitterly, a hoarse, ugly sound.

He really is pathetic, huh? Loving someone as innocent as Shuichi, having hope that someone as great as Shuichi could even like him back. He thinks about DICE, about Nagito, Miu, his classmates, and goddamnit, _Shuichi_. 

The tears don’t stop no matter how hard he tries. He cries into his hands, a muffled sound that sounds absolutely desperate and heartbroken. He hears the bathroom door open, but he doesn’t care if anyone else hears, it’s not like they would know it’s him anyway.

“Kokichi... Kokichi, dammit!” Kokichi hears a gruff voice. Hajime? 

“Hajime, Kokichi, hurry. I really wouldn’t want anyone coming inside and seeing...” Nagito’s voice floats into the bathroom.

“What the fuck, hurry up and get the bitch outta there! It’d be a pain in the ass if anyone came inside and saw this fuckin’ mess, I literally had to shoo everyone away from the bathroom for this shit!” Miu’s angry but obviously concerned voice came next. Kokichi freezes. Not only Hajime, but Miu too? Fuck... he’s really dead.

“Open the door, Kokichi! Shuichi and Gonta are about five minutes from us, they insisted on coming to see you after you ran off! You have to clean the fuck up!” Hajime seems really stressed, Kokichi thinks. Probably flashbacks of Nagito’s Hanahaki...

But there were worse things to worry about. Shuichi knowing about his disease wouldn’t be good, he would deduce that Kokichi’s Hanahaki was caused by Shuichi, and that’s the last thing Kokichi needs.

Kokichi groans and unlocks the stall door, falling out. He hears Nagito and Hajime gasp, and he thinks he hears Miu cursing from her spot at the entrance. Someone picks him up, presumably Hajime, and he hears someone flush the toilet.

“Hey, let’s get you home, alright? I don’t know who it is you got Hanahaki for, but it seems to be as bad as Nagito’s so I really hope you work something out,” Hajime whispers to him. He nods weakly, not even having the strength to say anything.

“I cleared the hall and everything for you fucks, just take the stairs down to the reception room. Take care of the Shota, you got it, Hajigay? If you don’t, I’m going to fuck you up real bad,” Miu says to Hajime as they leave the bathroom with Nagito.

“Nagihoe, I’m counting on you too. And,” she pauses, before continuing, “Kokichi. Please. Stay safe, and do something about the stupid Hanahaki. I have a hunch as to who it is... but I can’t say anything yet. Be sure to explain everything to me when you wake up again.” 

Kokichi’s baffled, to say the very least. But grateful all the same. He gives a firm nod, hoping she doesn’t see the tear that slips out of his closed eye, and Miu turns and walks away. 

“You fuckers go, I’ll hold the others off.”

Nagito whispers a word of thanks and leaves with Hajime, carrying a now unconscious Kokichi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be Shuichi’s (and a few other’s) POV! I’ll probably post it within 1-3 days. 
> 
> As you can tell, I also ship Komahina!
> 
> And you can also probably tell I literally love the idea of BFFs Nagito & Kokichi and BFFs Miu & Kokichi.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people begin to put together pieces of evidence Kokichi leaves behind. Some people, including Shuichi.
> 
> Shuichi also realizes something that nearly causes him to have a panic attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can tell, I absolutely suck at summaries :,)
> 
> I wanted to push out this chapter a bit early, since I already had it finished 
> 
> and I PROMISE there will be Saiouma interaction. In the next chapter, though, not this one.
> 
> also, there are quite a few time skips and POV switches within the chapter, so, sorry is that peeves some of you guys!

Kirumi opens the door to the boys’ bathroom, cleaning supplies on hand. The janitor had left in a hurry, begging Kirumi to help him clean the bathroom while he was gone. And of course, she followed her job as the Ultimate Maid, and went to clean.

It’s not like it’s her first time doing this, far from it. However, things did seem a bit unusual... starting with the pungent smell of blood and vomit coming from the first stall. She makes her way to the stall and opens the door further.

Nothing. However...

_What is this bloody flower petal doing here..? And could it have something to do with Miu ushering people down the hall earlier?_

It’s extremely unusual, and the little drops of still wet blood on the floor confuses her even further. She looks in further. This time, a whole flower is on the floor, bloodied.

 _I’m not sure what’s happening, but if I were to guess... someone has the Hanahaki. And considering the way Miu was pushing people away from the bathroom, I would say she knows something about it._ Kirumi purses her lips, feeling a bit worried. 

_In any case, I feel like they’ll be important._ Kirumi places the bloody petal and flower in a plastic bag that came with her cleaning supplies.

_Now, onto cleaning this blood..._

***

_”Miu, what’s happening? Where’s Kokichi, Hajime, and Nagito?” Shuichi says, panicked. Kokichi’s behavior was really worrying him, and Gonta seemed to catch up on it too._

_“Miu, Gonta don’t understand what’s going on, but please tell Gonta Kokichi is okay,” Gonta adds. Miu smiles, but Shuichi can see her trembling faintly._

_“Yeah, everything’s alright. Kokichi’s gonna be fuckin’ fine, ya don’t gotta worry about it. Listen to the gorgeous girl genius, alright?!” She exclaims. But Shuichi can tell that something is definitely wrong._

_First the trembling. Then her swollen eyes. And lastly, she used Kokichi’s name. She never used Kokichi’s real name, despite being one of his best friends. Something must seriously be wrong._

_“Let’s just go back to class, alright? Our fucking lunch is over in a few minutes, wouldn’t wanna be late or whatever,” Miu continues, and before Shuichi can get a word out, she pulls the two of them along._

Shuichi sighs as he replays the scenario in his head. To put it simply, he’s extremely worried about Kokichi. He hasn’t been himself lately, without his pranks or lies. Shuichi really misses it. Kokichi has also been avoiding him a lot. He’s extremely fond of the little ball of energy, and it concerns him to no end that Kokichi’s been acting this way. Feelings aside, Kokichi seemed sick.

Shuichi decides to confide in Kaede about it. After all, she was probably the only one other than him who tolerated Kokichi. She might even be a bit fond of him.

Then the bell rings.

 _After class, I guess._ Shuichi thinks as he sighs. Then, he notices something that almost makes his anxiety shoot up the roof.

Kokichi isn’t in class. 

Which isn’t weird in itself, it’s just that Kokichi was at school earlier. And sure, he could just be late, but Shuichi didn’t think that Kokichi could be late to class two times in a day.

Also, considering Miu’s behavior.

A grim expression settles on Shuichi’s face. _I have to figure out what’s going on with Kokichi._

***

School ends for the day, and the students depart for their dorms.

Shuichi sets out on his investigation. He decides to go to Kokichi’s dorm room first, just to make sure he was doing alright. 

When he arrives at the door, he hesitates. There was something on the floor at the front of the door... a dried blood stain? Perhaps Kokichi injured himself accidentally while leaving his room? Oh well, he’d figure it out later.

He rings the doorbell a few times and waits for a bit. Strangely enough, no one answers.

 _Huh. That’s weird, Kokichi doesn’t seem to be the type to open his door for others, but he also isn’t the type to openly ignore people..._ Shuichi places a hand over his mouth, thinking.

_I wonder..._

“Hey, Shuichi! What are you doing here?” Shuichi whips his head around to see Kaede walking towards him, her songbook in hand.

“Ah, I was just a bit worried about Kokichi, that’s all,” he answers. Kaede tilts her head, then sighs.

“...Look, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this now, but earlier, I think I saw Hajime carrying Kokichi out of the school. He seemed to be unconscious. I’m a bit concerned too... I wonder why he wasn’t just brought back to his dorms. I think it’s best you find Hajime or Nagito for now. They should be back in their dorms,” Kaede murmurs.

Shuichi stares at her, dumbfounded. Things would’ve been so much easier if she’d told him from the start. Nonetheless, he’s grateful that she told him.

“Thank you, Kaede. I’ll go find one of them,” Shuichi excuses himself, and makes his way to the upper floor.

“Also, Shuichi.” Kaede’s voice wavers a bit. “Bring Kokichi back safe, alright?”

Shuichi stops, and turns to her, blinking. “...Okay?” He says, but it comes out more as a question. Did she know something? “Is something the matter?”

“It’s just a hunch but—” Kaede shakes her head. “No, it’s nothing. Good luck though, okay?” Shuichi nods his affirmation and thanks her, then walks away.

***

“Nagito! Hajime!” Shuichi calls as the two make their way of the boys’ bathroom. They seem surprised when they notice it was Shuichi calling out to them.

“Hey Shuichi, what’s up?” Hajime asks. Shuichi’s eyes flit between the two of them for a second. 

“...Have you two seen Kokichi?” He decides to ask. The two of them flinch.

_Bingo._

“A-Ah, he had some family stuff come up, he’ll be back in a few days or so...” Nagito begins weakly, looking to the side and crossing his arms. Hajime just stiffly nods affirmation.

_They’re clearly lying, but for what reason?_

“...If that’s the case, it’s alright. I was a bit worried when he didn’t show up for class,” Shuichi says. At this, the two seem to relax a bit. “I’ll talk to you guys later, I guess, have a good night.”

“Wait, Shuichi.” Nagito grips his arm, and stares him dead in the eyes.

“When Kokichi comes back, don’t overwhelm him. And please, Shuichi... fix it.” Nagito says. Hajime looks at Nagito, looking a bit confused too, but then, something akin to realization takes over the look on his face.

And with that, Nagito and Hajime exchange their goodbyes, and leave Shuichi in the hallway, confused and even more worried than he was coming there.

***

“Kishiko! Bring over some water for Kokichi!” A boy hollers out to the girl standing next to the couch.

“Koushi, no need to yell. I’m doing juuuust peachy!” Kokichi says with a forced grin. And Koushi can see through it.

“Like hell you are! You were brought to our doorstep on the brink of death. Let yourself take a break once in a while!” He exclaims. Kokichi winces.

“Alright, alright... Just a few days, ‘Kay?” 

Koushi sighs. “You better have a good excuse for your classmates. They probably won’t buy the ‘family issue’ excuse, especially that detective boy you have this disease over.”

Kokichi straightens from his spot on the couch. “Correction, Shuichi Saihara, my beloved detective! And the disease part is just my problem, he’s not to blame!” Kokichi insists. Then, he bursts into another coughing fit. All Koushi does is sigh.

“Well, you’ve got to prepare an excuse for him. Your ‘beloved Shuichi’ could catch on to the whole disease in an instant,” Koushi warns.

Kokichi’s lips form a thin line. 

“I know. And I wouldn’t want that happening, right?”

* _ **Day Two: Begin**_ *

Shuichi wakes up the next morning feeling moody. It’s probably because of the events that transpired yesterday, he’s still bitter that he didn’t find any answers.

He finishes preparing for his first period, and as soon as he opens the door, Kaito is in front of him, successfully scaring Shuichi into slamming the door back in his face.

“Ow, Shuichi! To think that my own sidekick would hurt me like that!” His muffled voice is heard through the door, and Shuichi breathes, his heart slowing down. He thinks he can hear Maki giggling over Kaito’s protests.

Shuichi opens the door again and smiles at the two sheepishly. “Sorry about that, you surprised me.”

Kaito slaps his shoulder. The force nearly sent him hitting the floor. “It’s alright, sidekick! We came a bit early, but I gotta ask, why’d you abandon us so quickly yesterday? We didn’t see you for the entire rest of the day!”

“Oh, I was just doing some... private investigating, you could call it,” Shuichi says. He doesn’t think he should reveal anything to Kaito or Maki yet, since neither of them were particularly fond of Kokichi. Maki seems to catch on to something, since she narrows her eyes. Thankfully, she stays silent.

“Well in that case, good luck! We believe in you!” Kaito pumps a fist into the air. “Let’s get to class!”

The classroom is... much quieter, to say the least. The last few days, Kokichi hadn’t pulled any pranks, so it had been quieter, but with Kokichi completely gone, the silence is even more apparent. What’s also strange is Miu’s silence. The girl seems to be staring out the window, outfit and hair a bit messier than usual.

The teacher looks over at Kokichi’s empty seat and sighs. 

“If you’re wondering about Ouma, he’s back home for the time being. He’ll probably be returning in a few days,” the teacher says, and begins her lesson.

***

After all the classes, Shuichi decides that he has to get some answers out of Miu. He makes his way to her desk, where she’s tinkering with some sort of machinery. But on his way there, he stops at Kokichi’s desk, which happened to be in front of hers. 

It catches his eye, and his curiosity gets the best of him. Inside Kokichi’s desk, there’s something hanging off the edge...

_A flower petal?_

“E-Eek!” Shuichi jumps when he hears Miu’s squeak. She points at him accusingly.

“Hey, Poo-ichi, whaddya think you’re doing, snooping in the gremlin’s desk like that?!” She asks, her voice a bit too high. 

“O-Oh, I’m not snooping or anything...” Shuichi loosely clenches his hand over the flower petal. “I actually just have a question or two for you.”

“Huh? Me? Alright, hit me with what you’ve got!” She straightens up. Whew. She didn’t notice the petal.

“It’s about Kokichi—” Shuichi starts, and Miu visibly deflates.

“Oh would you look at the time, what great fucking timing! Looks like I have to leave, you know, get to the computer lab!” She stands up abruptly, ignoring the loud screech of the chair scraping the floor, and speed walks out of the room, leaving Shuichi alone again.

Shuichi sighs. “Seriously, what going on with everyone?” He thinks aloud. He then remembers the flower petal he still had clenched in his fist.

As he leaves the classroom, he takes to inspecting the petal. It’s a dark shade of blue, but upon closer inspection, there are dried traces of... blood?!

Shuichi suddenly has a creeping suspicion. But before he reaches a conclusion, he shake his head. No way. That wasn’t possible. Even if it was possible, it was rare, insanely so. And its _Kokichi._

However, he can’t let the possibility slide, so he slots it somewhere in his brain.

_I’ll keep the flower for now._

As he thinks this, he sees Kirumi walking towards him, and remembers that he’s holding the flower in plain view for everyone to see. _Ah, shit._

He fumbles with the flower a bit, but the damage was already done, Kirumi had seen him. And she walks even faster, determination clear in every step she takes.

“Shuichi.” Kirumi stops in front of him. “If I may ask, why do you have a bloody flower in your hand? Would you possibly have... Hanahaki?”

“A-Ah! No, of course not, I just... found this lying around somewhere, that’s all,” Shuichi counters. He can tell that she doesn’t buy it though. “...Okay, that’s not exactly what happened, but I promise you that I don’t have Hanahaki.”

Kirumi eyes him and then sighs. She then digs through one of her apron pockets and pulls out a plastic bag.

“Alright, I believe you. Since you’re holding the same type of flower, I believe I should hand you this,” Kirumi says, as she passes Shuichi a bag with a bloody flower and petal. His eyes widen.

“Where’d you find this?” Shuichi asks, confused. Kirumi then begins explaining.

“I have reason to believe that there is someone in our class with the Hanahaki. Earlier, as I was cleaning the boys bathroom, I noticed the smell of blood and vomit that was rather pungent in one of the stalls. When I went in to check, the flower and petal were on the floor, surrounded by droplets of blood. Adding to that, I noticed Miu acting very strange, she was pushing others away from the bathroom as if she knew something... that’s why I believe it’s someone she’s close to,” Kirumi finishes.

“I trust your skills as the Ultimate Detective, and since you claim that you don’t have the Hanahaki, I’ll entrust you with this evidence.” She hands over the bag, then dips her head in thanks.

“I’ll do my best,” Shuichi says.

As she begins to walk away, more questions begin filling his head. Could this have been the reason Miu was acting off the whole day? He couldn’t get any answers out of her, so he can’t tell...

But what he does know, is that the possibility of Kokichi having Hanahaki is much higher than he thought before.

Shuichi retreats to his dorm and spends the rest of the day trying to decipher the information.

* _ **Day Three: Begin**_ *

“Kuriko, I think I’m gonna go back to school tomorrow,” Kokichi says to a girl with pigtails, staring out the window as the sun begins to rise higher. Kuriko, the girl, nods, albeit hesitantly. 

“Are you sure three days is enough? The school told you to take as much time as you want off,” she says nervously.

Kokichi stays silent for far too long, so Kuriko lifts her head to look at Kokichi. He’s staring at the ceiling.

“Kuriko, you know I don’t have much time left left. I’m throwing up at least twice a day now. No matter how long I stay at home, I won’t heal. I wanna spend as much time as I can with the others... even though most of them are boring.” Kokichi’s lips lift up into a sad smile. He turns when he hears a sniffle. 

Kuriko wipes at her eyes pathetically. “You- you absolute moron,” she begins, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Why can’t you get it through your thick skull that there are people who care about you? Do you know how much we’ll be affected if you die? Without our leader? Without our brother?” She looks like she wants to say more but she breaks down on her chair, sobbing. “Kokichi... we know you love him so much, but we can’t bare to think about what’ll happen in a week or two. We’re terrified!” 

Kokichi hesitates, then leans over to try and comfort her, but suddenly turns to reach for the trash can and pukes. Kuriko scrambles to grab for his glass of water.

The flowers... he feels as though he’s choking on them. It hurts. The thorns tear at his throat again. Tears escape his eyes, and blood continues dripping into the trash can. When the second wave of flowers pass, he collapses back into his bed.

Thinking about it, he does feel guilty. He’ll be leaving behind all of DICE if the disease kills him. He doesn’t even want to think about it.

“Hey, Kuriko,” Kokichi says quietly, his throat too torn up to speak any louder, “Promise me... promise me that you’ll keep DICE together when I’m gone, okay?”

“D-Don’t say that! We’ll figure something out!” She protests, wiping at her eyes again. 

“But... I promise anyway,” she continues. Kokichi smiles. “Thank you, Kuriko.” Then his lips turn up in his signature grin, trying to lift the mood.

“Now then, could you pass me my phone? I gotta contact Big Bro Nagihoe and ask him to bring a few things over.”

***

Thursdays were more or less a free day for the Ultimates. They were allowed to roam the schools, hang out with their friends, and spend time in their Ultimate labs.

(Shuichi still wonders how the school managed to build so many Ultimate labs. They increased the school to about three times its original size.)

But Shuichi decides that he should probably get on to investigating Kokichi’s case.

Shuichi arrives to his lab first, to drop off a few things, and then he heads towards the boys’ bathroom. According to Kirumi, she’d cleaned up all the blood and such that was staining the floor, however, he wanted to make sure that she hadn’t missed anything.

When he’s about to turn the corner, he notices Nagito walking down the hall, and hides. It was weird, since Nagito’s dorm was two floors above theirs...

Nagito stops at Miu’s door and rings her doorbell. She comes out almost instantly, and follows Nagito to Kokichi’s room. She waits outside while Nagito takes out a key (Kokichi’s?) and opens the door, then walks inside, presumably to grab something. Maybe Kokichi needed Nagito and Miu to grab something for him since he was out? They were his best friends, so it did make since... however, he feels a pang of sadness (and definitely not jealousy) that Kokichi hadn’t asked him to help.

Miu wrinkles her nose and seems to complain about something, then walks into Kokichi’s dorm with Nagito. They shut the door and Shuichi waits. 

Five minutes pass when the two walk out of the room, carrying a few of Kokichi’s belongings, and what seems to be two bags of... wait, what is that?

Shuichi can tell that it’s probably trash, but what concerns him is the amount of blood. Well, what he assumes to be blood, since it was dried by now. The bags weren’t exactly transparent, so he couldn’t see it as clearly as he would’ve liked, but the image was already ingrained into his mind.

_One of the bags contain tissues with blood. The other bag contain flowers with blood._

Suddenly, Shuichi gasps and turns back, stumbling down the hall. Thankfully, neither Nagito or Miu seem to hear him, but Shuichi can’t stop thinking about what he just discovered. He almost feels like gagging.

Shit... Kokichi almost _definitely_ has Hanahaki. He won’t know for sure unless he hears from the boy himself, but he likely wouldn’t be back until tomorrow at least.

_I’ll ask him when he comes back... yeah, that’s okay. For now, I’ll take the other route to the bathroom, I wouldn’t want to run into Miu or Nagito._

Shuichi tries putting the thought off to the side, but he keeps thinking. In the case that Kokichi had Hanahaki, who could it be for? An ugly feeling of jealousy begins to spread within him. But why does he feel this way? It’s not like—

It’s not like he likes—

.....

_Holy shit I like Kokichi._

Holy _shit_.

He can put investigating the bathroom to the side, for now, he needs to find Kaede.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter should come out in around 1-3 days 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Feedback is appreciated, and thanks to all of you for the kudos and bookmarks!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi returns to school after his short break.
> 
> Shuichi corners Kokichi with the intention of finding out the truth. He finds out in a rather shocking way.
> 
> (ft. Shuichi’s gay panic, Nagito being weird, Hajime channeling his inner Ultimate Predictor, and Kokichi fucking up.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three is out! And, the long awaited Saiouma interaction finally comes! I wonder how it’ll go??
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

Miu stares out the window and sighs for the umpteenth time. Nagito hums in return and Hajime looks back at her from the rear-view mirror.

“Let’s go in, guys,” Hajime breaks the silence, and then the three of them begin climbing out. 

They are currently at Kokichi’s house (or DICE’s headquarters, as Kokichi had called it), with a few of his belongings. The house is located in a rather... shady-looking area, with no other houses in sight and covered with trees. Nagito invited Miu beforehand and told her that she could talk with Kokichi if she liked, and she couldn’t refuse. But now, she’s feeling more nervous than ever: what could she say? She sighs again.

The three of them make their way to the door and knock. A few seconds later, they hear some yelling and a rattling sound on the other side. Then, the door opens to a short boy who greets then with a small smile. “Come on in,” he says, “I’m Kakuei. I’m guessing you guys are Miu, Nagito, and Hajime?” They nod, and another guy ushers them into a room on the second floor. Miu catches Kakuei working on locking the door back up, and _why in the world are there so many locks on that door, geez!_

Kokichi’s sitting up in his bed, legs kicking over the edge. As soon as they walk in, he smiles. A genuine, pure smile with no mischief or lies.

“Hey,” he says. All three of them wince at how raspy his voice sounds. “I guess I owe Hajime and Miu an explanation, huh.”

Miu’s throat catches at how broken Kokichi’s voice sounds. It’s so much different from the playful, joking tone that he usually plays up. She forces the lump back down and clenches her fists.

“Yeah, you better start explaining. We’ll figure something out with you,” Miu grumbles.

***

Kokichi left out all the details of who the person is, simply replacing Shuichi’s name with “someone.” Neither Miu or Hajime seemed to mind, and Nagito just watched with a sad look in his eyes, and listened to the story again, listened to the story that he knew all the details of.

_It started around three months ago. Kokichi and Nagito were in the school’s courtyard, having lunch together, until Kokichi complained about a slight burning in his throat. Nagito, being the good friend he was, dragged Kokichi into the nurse’s office and asked Mikan, who was in there at the time, to check up on him._

_It was all good up until Kokichi started coughing. Harsh, heavy bursts that shook his small body. Mikan began soothingly patting his back, and Nagito freezes when he saw what Kokichi had spat out._

_A blood-soaked flower petal._

_At that point, Nagito went into panic mode. He immediately called for DICE’s help at Kokichi’s request, and Mikan ran around the nurse's office to grab a few different bottles of medicine._

_“Oh n-no, this isn’t good, I-I’m going to excuse Kokichi from class for the time being,” Mikan had said frantically, stumbling to the phone._

_DICE had been contacted, and Kokichi had been brought home. He didn’t have any more coughing fits throughout that day, or so he heard, but Nagito couldn’t stop the dread that coursed through his body the rest of that day. Flashbacks of his own hanahaki raced through his brain, and he was on the verge of a panic attack before Hajime had found him and started comforting him. He didn’t tell Hajime about it, and Hajime didn’t pry._

_The weeks that followed weren’t too bad, Kokichi was still the same person he always was, despite having hanahaki and coughing up a few flower petals here and there. But it was after the second month where things began to take a turn for the worst._

_Kokichi started to cough up whole flowers at that point, and almost choked to death on too many occasions. His bright personality began to dim, and so did Nagito’s._

_Nagito had promised to keep it a secret between himself, Kokichi, DICE, Mikan, and a few trusted members of the Hopes Peak faculty, but it became increasingly difficult to keep it a secret._

_Then the incident from a few days ago happened, and here’s where they ended up._

The room is silent for a few minutes, save for Kokichi nervously twisting his bedsheet in his fingers. Then, Miu speaks up.

“You little shit, why would you keep it bottled up like that?” She asks angrily, but Kokichi can hear the fear laced in her words. “You know, I’m betting it’s someone like Sherlock Homo!”

At that, Kokichi hears Nagito inhaling sharply, and he bursts into a coughing fit. Miu’s eyes widen in realization.

“Seriously, Shuichi?! Kokichi, it’s obvious to anyone with a pair of working eyes that he’s—!” Miu is stopped when Nagito abruptly reaches out for her wrist and grabs it. He then drags her out of her chair and to the door.

“We’ll be back, okay? Just gonna tell her something,” Nagito says, before pushing her out and shutting the door, leaving Hajime and Kokichi in the room.

“So it’s Shuichi, huh...” Hajime trails off and Kokichi looks out the window glumly.

“Yeah... geez, I really got it bad for him,” Kokichi mutters. Then his voice goes an octave higher. “You better not tell anyone though! My super secret organization _will_ come for you if you spill it to anyone!” He declares. Hajime sighs. The room goes silent again.

“So... how much longer until..?” Hajime finally asks. Kokichi starts to take an interest in his nails.

“Well... two weeks. If I’m lucky,” he answers. Instead of the look of pity that Kokichi expects, he sees Hajime give him a soft smile.

“... Don’t take my word for it... but I have a feeling... everything will work out.” Hajime tells him. Kokichi looks at him doubtfully, then shrugs.

“I hope so.”

***

“Hey, what’s the big deal? I wanna get it through his thick skull that Shithara is obviously head over heels for him!” Miu says when the door closes behind her and Nagito. Nagito sighs.

“Look, Miu... it may be obvious to _us_ , but Shuichi may not know it himself. Also, if you were to tell Kokichi that Shuichi does in fact reciprocate his feelings, I can assure you that Kokichi won’t believe you,” Nagito reasons.

“Then I’ll tell the detective myself!” Miu argues. Nagito shakes his head again, and smiles.

“It’s fine. After all, I think there may be some hope, now that Shuichi saw what he saw,” Nagito whispers to himself.

“What didja say? I didn’t catch that!” Miu says, irritated. He shakes his head. 

“It’s nothing, but there’s no reason to tell Shuichi anymore. I think he’s already figured it out. He’s the Ultimate Detective after all, right?”

***

“Shuichi, what’s wrong?! You look like a ghost is chasing you!” Kaede exclaims as Shuichi stumbles into the piano room. Kaito, who was sitting in the corner with Maki, pales. 

“Ghost? Where?! Ghost??!” He jumps up from his seat and drags Maki out of the room in a panic. She sighs, her face coloring pink at the contact. When the door shuts behind them, Shuichi slumps forward.

“Kaede... I’m fucked,” Kaede looks shocked at his choice of words.

“Um Shuichi... what happened..?” She asks. Shuichi groans and covers his face with both hands.

“I think I like Kokichi.”

“What? You’re gonna have to speak up, I can’t hear you.”

“I-I,” Shuichi uncovers his face, looking at the floor, “I think I like Kokichi?” He says, louder. Kaede’s eyes brighten a bit.

“Hey, really?! That’s a good thing! I could already tell that you at least had _some_ sort of attraction towards him. But what’s with the long face?” Kaede asks. Shuichi stiffens at that.

“I found out something I really think I shouldn’t have,” Shuichi says. Kaede nods, motioning for him to continue.

“I think— god, I think Kokichi has the hanahaki disease,” Shuichi finishes. Kaede gasps.

“N-No way...” She trails off, and reaches to hold Shuichi’s hands to steady him. “Do you know who it is? Like, who he has it for?”

“Of course not! If I knew, things wouldn’t be so difficult!” He snaps. Then he freezes, and apologizes to her profusely.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you like that, that’s not what I meant to say,” he rambles. Kaede gives him a soft smile.

“Hey it’s fine. More importantly, I’m guessing you want to find out who he has it for? Even though you like him?” Shuichi nods. 

“What’s worse— I don’t think he has much time left. I would say it’s been going on for about two or three months,” Shuichi adds, thinking about how Kokichi’s attitude had started changing around that time. Kaede seems to understand, and her eyebrows furrow.

“I think you should ask him yourself first. He should be back pretty soon, after all, and who knows, he might even tell you who it is!” Kaede suggests. Shuichi doubts the last part, but agrees nonetheless.

“Yeah... I think that’s the best idea now,” he says. Kaede nods and drags Shuichi to her piano bench. “Relax a bit. You’ll need a lot of energy for when Kokichi comes back.”

***

* _ **Day Four (Kokichi’s Return): Begin**_ *

Kokichi twirls the bottle of pills Mikan gave him between his fingers. He thinks about whether he should take them or not.

_Hmm... the nurse lady said that I should take it a week after I had my last pill, but it’s only been about four days. But... considering I’ve been puking my guts out for those last four days, wouldn’t it be okay to take it now? Since I’m going back to school today, I really don’t wanna have to put up with all the flowers anyways..._

After a few minutes of debating, he decides to just take the damn pills. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right? 

He turns the bottle to the side and reads the instruction label.

“Um. That’s not good,” Kokichi says aloud. The label had been smeared so bad and stained with blood that he can’t read any of the words, save for “water” and “once a week.”

“Huuu... uhh I think I remember her saying something like ‘eat three pills with breakfast or lunch and down it with water,” Kokichi recites. He brightens up. “Yeah! Three pills! And thennn, some water!”

He reaches to his nightstand to grab the glass of water, and takes the three pills with it. He waits to see if he feels any change, but there isn’t.

 _There! I probably did it right then._ Kokichi thinks, grinning. Man, what great memory he had! With that thought, he skips out of his room for breakfast, feeling strangely refreshed.

***

Kokichi’s arrival at class that day causes a chorus of groaning in the class. He grins at the response and puts his hands behind his head.

“Nishishi~ bet you missed me!” He winks. He catches two or three people rolling his eyes at him, and Maki sends him a withering glare.

When he reaches his seat, Miu pokes him with her pencil. “Hey, you doing okay? You seem hella fucking energetic today,” she says, and keeps poking him, almost accusingly. Kokichi simply grins back.

“That medicine Little Miss Nurse gave me is really effective I guess! It works like a miracle, I’m feeling great today,” he replies. He thinks he hears someone letting out a sharp gasp, but chooses to ignore it. His voice drops to a whisper.

“Pretty surprising though, I haven’t thrown up once today,” he whispers. Miu looks at him with a calculating look, as if she thinks he’s lying. Which he can’t blame her for, but still, she could at least pretend she believed him! But then her shoulders slump with what he thinks is relief.

“Alright then, it’s pretty fucking suspicious if you ask me, but I’ll take your word for it,” she says. Kokichi grins again and then the teacher walks in to start class, looking a bit surprised when she notices Kokichi.

***

 _It’s a bit concerning, Kokichi’s looking even paler than he already was, and he looks like he’s lost a lot of weight. I wonder what’s going on with him._ Shuichi thinks, playing with his pencil. He heard Kokichi talking about some sort of medicine with Miu, which doesn’t exactly sit well with him. _I’ll ask him during lunch._

***

Kokichi doesn’t know exactly when the feeling starts, but when the bell rings for lunch, he notices he feels a bit strange. The air seems to feel a bit thinner and it’s a bit hard to breathe, but he swallows down the discomfort and continues acting like everything was fine.

He meets with Nagito on his way to lunch, telling him that he was feeling a lot better, to the relief of the other boy. They part ways when Hajime pulls Nagito aside for something. (And frankly, Kokichi didn’t want to know.)

He sees Shuichi walking out of his Ultimate lab and has a strange urge to talk to him. It’s been, what, almost a week since their last real conversation? Yeah, gotta catch up on lost time, especially with the stupid disease that would probably be taking his life within a week or two.

He skips up to Shuichi and hollers, “Detectice Shumai, wait uuuup!” Shuichi whips his head back so fast that Kokichi’s almost afraid it would snap right off. But that’s a lie. Or is it? He snickers to himself, and his breath catches in his throat, causing him to almost choke on his saliva.

“Ah, Kokichi, I was looking for you,” Shuichi says. Not the reaction Kokichi expects, but he goes along with it.

“Oh? What would my beloved detective need from me on this fine day?” He asks. Shuichi stays silent for a moment, then grabs Kokichi’s wrist. Kokichi grimaces as he feels the roots in his lungs twitch in objection.

“My, Shuichi! All you have to do is ask nicely and I would gladly follow you anywhere,” Kokichi says, slipping his wrist out of Shuichi’s grip. Shuichi frowns, and sighs.

“Okay Kokichi, follow me, please?” Shuichi asks. Kokichi decides he’s had enough fun tormenting him. And also, he’s pretty interested in what Shuichi has to say, so he follows him.

Shuichi leads him behind the school, obscured from the other students and teachers. A sick feeling begins to pile up in his throat. He kinda feels nauseous? But he was doing fine just earlier...

“So, um.” Shuichi pauses, looking down at the floor. “Well, I’ll get straight to the point.” Kokichi almost snickers, almost makes a joke about how he is far from straight, but the nauseating feeling is messing with his brain. What is this..?

“You- you don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready or anything, but,” Shuichi pauses again, taking a deep breath.

“Kokichi, do you have the hanahaki disease?”

Kokichi feels his heart stop. The world freezes, as if the only people existing were Shuichi and himself. He’s about to say something, about to deny the question right away, when he feels the burning sensation in his throat again. This time, it feels as though the flowers are tearing him up from the inside out, and he immediately starts to cough, putting a hand over his mouth and shutting his eyes. A warm liquid covers his hand and he opens his eyes to see that it’s covered in blood. So, so much blood. He feels overwhelmingly faint, and his stomach churns as he _feels_ the flowers trying to force their way out.

“Shit, Kokichi!?” Shuichi quickly moves to aid him. Kokichi pushes him away weakly.

“S-Stop, Shuichi, I—!” Kokichi turns his head to the side, cutting of from his sentence, and runs to the nearby bush.

Tears prick at his eyes and he realizes the severity of his situation. _Shuichi_ found out about his hanahaki. _Shuichi_ , the one that he tried hiding it the hardest from. _Shuichi_ , the Ultimate Detective who would probably find out who he had the hanahaki for in an instant. _Shuichi_... who he fell in love with all those months ago.

It feels so much more violent too, like he’s getting choked repeatedly, only getting a short breath in before more flowers flutter out. The blues and purples of the flowers, covered in the dark red of his own blood, make him all the more aware of the situation, as if mocking him for getting himself into this predicament. The incident from a few days ago almost pales in comparison to this. He can faintly hear Shuichi’s panicked voice calling out to him, and when the flowers finally stops, he falls to the ground, his world beginning to go dark. 

He feels himself getting lifted up, feels strong arms holding him bridal style. He subconsciously curls into the arms, resting his head on the firm chest, breathing ragged. As he slowly feels himself beginning to black out, he hears someone. Shuichi?

_"I’ll be there for you when you wake up, and when that time comes, I’ll fix everything, I promise.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first saiouma interaction we get ends up a total disaster, how despairful!
> 
> But I promise, things do get better! You’ll see for yourself ;)
> 
> The next chapter will be up in 1-3 days... The Oblivious Detective Shuichi finds out the truth to everything! ...Or is that a lie?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi got confirmation that Kokichi has the disease, but not in the way that he wanted to.
> 
> Shuichi takes it upon himself to find the person Kokichi has the hanahaki for. Will he find the truth?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, so much research was put into making this, and now I know so much more about flowers than I ever expected to know in my whole life! Well, it was a lot of fun, and I’m sure a lot of you will enjoy what’s to come.
> 
> Enjoy~!

Shuichi runs as fast as he can with Kokichi in his arms, heart beating out of his chest.

_Shit, fuck, what in the world do I do... nurse’s office, nurse’s office..!_

Fortunately, he can still feel Kokichi’s shallow breathing on his chest. He avoids the stares of the lingering people outside the courtyard, hoping that they would think that Kokichi had simply passed out for no reason. 

He reaches the nurse’s office in less than two minutes, kicking open the door and scaring Mikan and Seiko half to death. Their eyes widen in understanding, and in an instant, Kokichi’s laying on a bed and Mikan has a syringe filled with some strange looking purple liquid.

“What did he do now..?” Mikan wonders aloud, checking for his pulse.

“I’m not sure, he just started coughing and flowers came out,” Shuichi offers. Mikan sends him a sympathetic look. 

“I’ll take care of your friend, Shuichi. You can go, there are classes you’ll miss, right?” As if on cue, the bell rings, and Shuichi stands up.

“Alright, but please, call me over if he wakes up. I’ll come by in between classes,” Shuichi says. He gives Kokichi one last soft look, one that Mikan doesn’t miss, and then leaves.

A few minutes after he leaves, Kokichi starts coughing again. Mikan turns back to him, and almost goes to grab the phone to call for Shuichi, but notices that Kokichi’s still unconscious. She sits him up on the bed and waits for the cough to pass, but freezes when he coughs something up.

She catches it in her hand and inspects it carefully.

A... pill?

***

Instead of going to class like he actually should’ve, Shuichi chooses instead to go to Kokichi’s Ultimate lab, in hopes of finding some clues. He sends a text to Kaede, telling her to tell the teacher that he had some detective work to take care of. Hopefully she would see it.

Shuichi almost thanks Atua that the labs were all unlocked, as per the school’s order. The doors slide open slowly, and Shuichi walks inside. 

It’s not the first time he’s been in Kokichi’s lab, far from it. He investigates the room, starting with the shelves in the back. As he makes his way around, he catches a glint of something in the corner of his vision. Something lies on the flashy chair sitting in the middle of the room.

Shuichi closes in on the item and picks it up. _A key?_ It’s definitely not Kokichi’s dorm room key, it’s far too small to be that. He thinks about leaving it, but can’t seem to shake off the feeling that it is important.

_I’ll be borrowing this for now, Kokichi... I’ll return it when I’m done with it._

Shuichi concludes the investigation after determining that there wasn’t anything else inside the lab. He wants to get access to Kokichi’s dorm room, but in order to do that...

Shuichi makes his way to Headmaster Kirigiri’s office. The halls are still empty, and Shuichi estimates about another twenty minutes before the next bell.

When he reaches the door, he steels himself and knocks. The doors slide open to reveal the headmaster, sitting at his desk, hands folded underneath his chin.

“How can I help you today, Detective Saihara?” He says, jokingly. Shuichi can’t help but smile at that.

“Well, I have a favor to ask if you,” he says, “if possible, could you get Kokichi’s dorm room open for me?”

Kirigiri’s eyebrows lift in a surprised manner. “It has to be for a good reason, I can’t open them otherwise.”

Shuichi looks down at his feet. “Well, I know that Kokichi has hanahaki, and I really want, no, I _need_ to help him.” He lifts his head and sees the headmaster with an understanding look in his eyes. 

“So you found out, huh? Well, since you and Kokichi do seem very close, I’ll allow it,” Kirigiri says simply. He opens one of his desk drawers and rummages through it, picking out a key.

“Don’t lose this, it happens to be the only spare. You can return it to me any time. Oh yeah, and don’t worry if you do lose it, it just means that Kokichi’ll have to lock pick his way through the doors if he loses his.” The headmaster grins.  
“Well, you be on your way, we’re counting on you!”

Shuichi gives his thanks and leaves the office, thinking about his last words. _Well, that puts a ton of pressure on me..._ He heads back to the dorms.

The door to Kokichi’s room opens, and he walks inside, shutting the door behind him. _Sorry for the intrusion, Kokichi._ He thinks to himself. He half expects it to smell like vomit and blood, but surprisingly, the window is half open, and the room smells of freshly cut flowers. He wonders why.

The first thing he catches sight of is the framed picture on Kokichi’s nightstand. It’s... a picture of him and Kokichi from their first movie night with their friends. It isn’t the best quality, but there’s a sense of nostalgia behind it, and Shuichi can’t stop himself from smiling. Before he knows it, he’s picking it up and inspecting it. Then, when he turns the frame over, he notices something.

_Me and my beloved Saihara-chan♡_

Shuichi feels his cheeks heating up. It’s cute and all... but it’s severely misleading. He shakes his head and gently sets down the photo, opting to look around the room for other clues.

There are traces of dried blood on Kokichi’s bed, which was probably unavoidable. Shuichi also notices three books underneath Kokichi’s chair, and his curiosity gets the best of him.

Two of the books seem to be from the library, and the other seems to be a diary of some sorts. 

He grabs the first book, which doesn’t have a title. It’s bookmarked at a certain page, and he flips to it. The heading reads “How the Type of Flower Correlates to the Hanahaki.”

_ The type of flower provides a deeper meaning to the hanahaki disease than one may think. The colors and meanings of the flowers can represent the person carrying the hanahaki, or the person they have it for. _

_ A look into how this works may explain things easier. For example, the red rose is a universal symbol of true love. It also means passion and sacrifice. This describes the type of love the carrier of the hanahaki has for the culprit, or the type of love they long to receive (which in this case, is true love), and it describes characteristics of either the carrier or culprit (which in this case is passion and sacrifice). If a person produces red roses, it may also mean that the person they hold the hanahaki for has some connection to the color red. _

_ If a hanahaki victim happens to vomit several types of flowers, it would mean that the victim feels extremely deeply for whomever they carry it for. The more types of flowers, the deeper their love, so to say. _

Shuichi takes in the information. It would help if he knows the flower that Kokichi produces, but he actually has no idea. Despite that, he closes the book and moves onto the second.

The second book is titled, “The Language of Flowers.” This time, several different pages are bookmarked. He flips to the first. It reads, “Bellflowers.”

_ Bellflowers, often a blue or dark purple color, symbolizes affection, constancy, and everlasting love. It can also represent delicacy and humility. They give the message, “thank you.” _

Shuichi flips to the next bookmarked page. “Forget-me-nots.”

_ Forget-me-nots are often a light blue color with yellow centers. They represent remembrance, protection, and luck. It can represent fidelity and truthfulness. In many cases, they also symbolize the fear of losing someone dear to you. _

The next marked page reads, “Freesia.”

_Freesia represents innocence, thoughtfulness, and trust. Either you are telling someone you trust them completely, or you are telling this person that you are honest in your emotions and feelings._

The fourth page that is marked reads “Fuchsia.”

_ Fuchsia flowers are a pinkish-purple color, and symbolize confiding love and amiability. They can be given as a way of expressing trust for someone. _

And then, “Hyacinths.” Shuichi’s eyes skim down the page to reach the section about purple and blue hyacinths, which is covered with a sticky note.

_ Purple hyacinths represent sorrow, and are given to ask for forgiveness. Blue hyacinths represent sincerity, and are given to thank someone for finding truth in a lie. _

He doesn’t know when he starts crying, but he sees the droplets of tears on the page, and hurriedly wipes at his eyes. He thinks he’s finding out more than he needs, and he already has a creeping suspicion that he already found what he was looking for. There is one more bookmarked page, “Morning Glory,” and he reads it with bated breath.

_The morning glory flower is a flower representing duality. It can symbolize unrequited love or true love. Blue morning glories can represent trust, truth, respect, and other heartfelt feelings._

The page cuts off there.

An overwhelming burst of emotions flood through Shuichi’s head at that moment, and he suppresses the urge to just rest, and takes a moment to process all the information.

The fact that Kokichi had marked all those specific pages probably meant that those were the flowers that Kokichi has to deal with. They were almost all either a blue or purple color, which definitely can’t go ignored. Furthermore, the traits and symbolism of the flowers can only remind Shuichi of two people: Kokichi and...

Shuichi turns his attention to the diary that lays on the floor beside him. If he’s thinking about it right, then the key he found earlier must belong to the diary. It feels like a breach of privacy, but really, what can he do? He feels as if this is the last piece of evidence he needs to confirm his suspicion.

The key slides into the lock smoothly, and he twists it, the lock falling off the diary. He hesitates, and remembers that he’s on a time crunch. There isn’t much time, so he skims through the diary.

 _Kokichi talks about this person a lot throughout the diary._ Shuichi thinks. However, the name was never directly stated. Until he reaches the last page.

_“The real phantom thief, the one who stole my heart... Shuichi Saihara.”_

Before he can even begin to calm himself down, the bell rings. Shuichi abruptly stands up, dropping the diary to the ground and scrambling to the door. He has to get to Kokichi, he has to get him to wake up. If he doesn’t wake up, then...

Shuichi reaches the nurse’s office and doesn’t hesitate to swing the door open. Mikan and Nagito jolt from their places by the desk, and upon seeing Shuichi, they both nod and head out the door, leaving Kokichi and himself alone. He sits on the chair next to Kokichi’s bed, mind still reeling from the sudden adrenaline. Kokichi is still unconscious, but his breathing is even, which puts Shuichi at ease.

He brings his hands to his face and lets out a low groan. It was obvious from the start, how could he not tell before?

The way Kokichi had started avoiding him those three months ago. The picture that was framed on Kokichi's nightstand. The meanings and colors of the flowers, and how they described both himself and Kokichi with near perfect accuracy. And finally, Kokichi's diary.

He knows now that he was the reason for Kokichi’s hanahaki, and he can’t help but feel guilty for putting Kokichi through all the pain that came with it. He wishes he’d done something in the past to prevent it. He’s scared, so scared that Kokichi would leave him before he confesses. Before he knows it, he’s rambling all of this in tears, grasping Kokichi’s hand as if his life depends on it, broken “I love you’s” tumbling through his lips.

He only stops when he feels a cold hand caress his cheek.

“Hey, for a detective, you’re pretty dense, but I’m surprised you caught on. I thought I kept it a pretty well-guarded secret,” Kokichi whispers.

“But for the record, I love you too.”

And the dam breaks.

“Goddammit Kokichi, I’m- I’m so sorry!” Shuichi begins, sobs wracking his body, “I- I didn’t mean to put you it, and now- now look where that’s gotten you! You could’ve died, and I’m sorr-!” A pair of soft lips silence him. He didn’t even notice when Kokichi had gotten up, and he lets out a shaky exhale when Kokichi pulls away. The taste of blood and flowers linger, but it's a strangely comforting thought.

“You’re already forgiven,” Kokichi whispers. And at that moment, Shuichi is struck by how beautiful Kokichi sounds, how beautiful he actually is, and, exhausted, he lays his head over Kokichi’s chest, listening to the hard pounding of the smaller boy’s heart. He smiles and closes his eyes, tears still streaming out his closed eyes. There are so many things he wants to say to Kokichi, but those can wait. For now, there was one thing that was more important.

“I love you too, Kokichi. Thank you for coming back to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter will conclude this fic! I may add an epilogue of sorts, but I’ll see. The next chapter should come out in again, 1-3 days. Kudos, comments, and bookmarks are appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t write a summary cuz I couldn’t think of one for the life of me lol. But basically, this is just the aftermath of everything. After this chapter, there’s gonna be one more- basically an epilogue, and then this story’s done!

Kokichi’s hums as he threads his fingers through Shuichi’s soft blue locks. He feels overwhelmed, but he’s definitely happy that Shuichi reciprocates his feelings. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers. The boy sleeping on his chest shifts a bit, and Kokichi feels like his heart is going to burst.

There’s a soft knock on the door, and Mikan walks in. He sees Nagito peek through the open door, and then he walks away, not even trying to hide his smile. Mikan sees the sleeping Shuichi and is quite obviously happy.

“U-Um, Kokichi, I have to take an x-ray and ask you a f-few questions,” she says nervously, as if afraid to ruin the moment. Before Kokichi can respond, however, Shuichi suddenly lifts his head.

“That’s fine, I wasn’t asleep,” he says. Kokichi feels his face heat up a bit. Did he hear Kokichi calling him beautiful?

“Ah, o-okay. Also, Shuichi, your teacher called for you as well,” Mikan tells him. Shuichi nods and sends Kokichi a smile (that definitely doesn't make his heart skip a beat or two, dammit), and Mikan takes Kokichi into what he assumes is the x-ray room to take his picture.

“Oh, that’s g-good!” Mikan says, seeming a bit excited. Kokichi twists his head to her computer screen, and takes a look. He squints in confusion.

“What do you mean? It still looks like there are a bunch of roots,” he points out. Mikan nods.

“T-There are, but you’re b-beginning to r-recover. The roots have b-become significantly smaller than the l-last time you had your x-ray taken,” she replies. Kokichi turns his face back to the monitor and realizes that she was right, the roots seem a lot smaller than he remembers them to be.

“Wait so like, does it just disappear into thin air or something? Or does it like dissolve into my system and I have to live with them in my body for the rest of my life,” Kokichi asks, curious. The idea seems cool but he really doesn’t want to have decomposed flowers in his system, no thanks.

“The r-roots have stopped producing f-flowers by now, so you won’t be throwing them up a-anymore.” She continues, “The roots w-will dissolve, yes, b-but it won’t stay in your system, you’ll excrete it.”

Kokichi’s gave scrunches up. “So basically I’ll poop it out?” Mikan nods, and he sticks his tongue out in poorly hidden disgust (and maybe fascination, but he won’t admit it of course).

“Also, K-Kokichi, I have a very i-important question, if you don’t mind,” Mikan says. Kokichi nods, letting her continue. “Did you happen to start taking the medicine that I gave you a few days ago?”

“Mhm, I did,” Kokichi answers. Mikan then asks, “How many did you take?”

Kokichi thinks back to that morning and remembers the three pills he had. “Uhh, three?”

Mikan looks a bit shocked, and frantically says, “Eek, Kokichi! You were only supposed to take two, and I even stated that you had to wait a week before taking it!” The pieces come together, and Kokichi smiles sheepishly.

“So that’s why I ended up nearly puking my guts up, huh? Nishishi, how careless of me!” Mikan sighs at his forgetfulness.

“W-Well it all ended up fine i-in the end, but p-please, pay more attention n-next time!” She pleads. Kokichi grins.

“M’kay, Nurse-sama!” He says. Mikan sighs in what he believes is exasperation. She then turns to the clock in the corner of the room, and turns back to Kokichi.

"In t-that case, y-you're free to go," she says, "but first, take this." She hands him a bottle of pills again, and he turns it in his hands.

"What's this for? Does it have any side effects that I should know about?" He asks, skeptical.

"They're m-more or less digestive pills. S-Stronger than the standard one's s-specially for hanahaki. T-They break the r-roots down quicker," she answer. She motions to the bottle again, and Kokichi flips it.

"You can start t-tomorrow, have one with water b-before breakfast," she instructs, "And the o-only side effect is diarrhea." Kokichi nods in acknowledgement.

"Okay, I'll head out then," Kokichi says. She nods and stands up, leading him to the door. Before he leaves, he decides to say something to Mikan. 

"Thanks, Mikan, really. I appreciate you helping with this, if it weren't for you, I'd possibly to dead, and that’s the truth!" he says. Her eyes widen and she waves her hands in front of her.

"N-No, it's m-my job, n-no need to t-thank me!" She says, but he can tell she took the words to heart. He gives her a small smile. "See ya then!"

***

Kokichi feels extremely giddy as he practically skips to class. Classes should be going on now, so he really shouldn’t exactly be happy (why didn’t they excuse him from class anyway, he almost died, sheesh), but the events from earlier still feel like a dream. In the span of like three hours, he almost died, Shuichi confessed to him, and he’s cured from hanahaki.

 _Shuichi..._ He stops himself from squealing on the spot (after all, it’s not exactly supreme-leader-like to act like he has a middle school crush). And then he remembers. What will their label be? They were quite obviously more than friends, maybe boyfriends, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet. Maybe he’ll work up the courage to ask Shuichi about it later.

When he reaches the door to his classroom, he hesitates for a moment. Does anyone know about his hanahaki? Would they call bullshit because they thought a person like him wasn’t capable of such a strong emotion like love? Before his anxieties begin to pile up, he swings the door open, and almost gets hit in the face by a balloon.

A... balloon?

He cracks an eye open and his surroundings become clear.

What the fuck?

All of his classmates, plus Hajime and Nagito, were all cheering under a banner that read, “WELCOME BACK, KOKICHI!” Balloons and confetti lay scattered all over the floor, and everybody was grinning (he honestly can’t tell with Korekiyo, and Maki’s looks more like a sort-of-accepting glare).

It’s all so, so cliche, and he can’t help but laugh, a throaty, genuine laugh, but even he can’t deny the tears that come rolling down his cheeks.

“You guys... I swear, you’re all so-so stupid,” he says with no real hear behind his words. Miu shrieks in surprise.

“Who’s this?! This isn’t Kokichi- mmph!” Kaede shoves a hand over Miu’s mouth and shouts, “Welcome back Kokichi!!” A chorus of shouts ring out as the other students echo Kaede. 

He honestly kinda hates himself for crying in front of everyone, but it feels overwhelmingly great to let it out. He actually thought they all hated him, really (and maybe some of them still do, cough, Maki), but he’s grateful nonetheless. 

“T-Thanks everyone,” he says, almost a whisper, but fortunately, they all hear it. They all cheer even louder (if that was even possible) and Kokichi feels someone wrapping their arms behind him.

“...Hey, Kokichi,” Shuichi murmurs, resting his chin on top of Kokichi’s right shoulder. Kokichi tunes out his classmates’ voices and listens to what he has to say.

“I know we haven’t quite put a label on our relationship, so... will you be my boyfriend?” He whispers into his ear. Kokichi feels his face redden almost comically, and instead of answering, he turns in Shuichi’s arms and wraps his own arms around his neck, pushing his lips up onto Shuichi’s. Shuichi makes a sound that dies in his throat, and returns the kiss after his apparent surprise. He hears squeals around them, someone shouting something that suspiciously sounds like, “Give me the twenty bucks, Ryoma” and Kokichi pulls away, pulling Shuichi down with the hands around his neck.

“Heh, I love you, Shumai~!” He says into Shuichi’s ear. Shuichi makes a sound that sounds a dying whale, and Kokichi laughs. He turns back to his classmates and smiles.

“Again, thanks guys... but don’t think that I’m gonna stop pranking you!” He exclaims. He hears a few groans, but they’re ultimately drowned out by the sounds of laughter and disbelief.

“You never change,” Nagito says, smiling. Hajime, who’s draped over Nagito, hums in agreement. Kokichi grins.

“I think this calls for a fucking party!” Miu shouts. Kaede laughs.

“Good thing we have all the things prepared, huh?” She says, a smile on the edge of smirking gracing her face. Kirumi nods, and leaves the room, only to be pushing along a huge cake when she comes back. A question pops into Kokichi’s head, and he pulls Kaede to the side.

“How did you get all this prepared, assuming that you only just found out about my hanahaki about an hour or so ago?” He asks. Kaede grins.

“As class rep, I gotta know everything and be prepared for every possible outcome, right?” She jokes. “Just kidding, I knew about it for a while already. Shuichi had explained that he had suspicions of you having hanahaki, and he texted me this morning saying that he had ‘detective work’ to do. Also, I overheard Nagito talking to Mikan over his teacher’s phone, panicking about something. I pieced two and two together, and boom, I knew something happened to you. And, Shuichi may be dense as hell sometimes, but when he wants to work towards a goal, he’s going to figure it out,” she explains. And Kokichi can’t disagree with her on the last part. 

“Nishishi, Kaede, you really are smart! Not boring at all!” He tells her. She grins back.

“Back to your usual self, huh? Well honestly, it’d feel weird if you did change, so I’m happy for that!” She says. They part and Kokichi finds Shuichi with Maki and Kaito. In an instant, Maki’s glare is directed to him.

“You.” She points at him. “Come with me.” Shuichi and Kaito smile, looking a bit amused, so Kokichi decides to follow her to where she wanted to go in the corner of the room.

Maki takes a deep breath. “Listen, this doesn’t exactly mean I tolerate you. It just means I tolerate you a bit l guess. And considering what you’ve been through, I can’t say I _hate_ you anymore... but know, that if you hurt Shuichi, I _will_ kill you,” she says.

“I knew you’d say that!” Kokichi says brightly. But then, his expression turn serious, “I would never hurt Shuichi though, don’t you ever think I would. I’d kill myself before you could kill me.”

Maki seems a bit taken aback by what he says, but the shock leaves in an instant. Instead, a smile (albeit a very small one) shows on her face. “Good.”

And maybe his relationship with Maki isn’t the best, but this conversation clears up a lot. They don’t share much in common, but there is one thing: they both care for Shuichi.

Right after they finish their conversation, Kokichi’s looking forward to finding Shuichi and spending time with him, but then Miu comes along and drags him by the ear to where Nagito and Hajime are.

“Man, I’m popular today. Everyone wants me,” he complains, but they can tell he’s joking.

“You. Are. Such. A. Fucking. Idiot.” Miu says accusingly, poking his forehead after every word. Kokichi looks at her with the most innocent look he can muster.

“Why would you say that, Ruma-chan?” He asks in faux innocence.

“You know what I’m talking about. _Anybody_ could see that Shuichi was head over heels for you, you’re the only one who couldn’t. Fuckin idiot,” she grumbles. But then she pulls him into a hug.

“...Don’t you ever pull something like that again,” she says, her voice filling with emotion. Kokichi awkwardly pats her back and giggles.

“I promise,” he tells her. Then she pulls away and whirls around to face Nagito and Hajime. “You saw nothing. Don’t ever fucking bring this up to anyone, got it, gays?”

“You know, you’re gay too...” Hajime mutters in exasperation. Nagito smiles. 

“I would never do something like that, today has brought me so much... hope,” he says. Hajime snorts.

“Oh god, Nagito, please don’t hit me with this now of all times,” Hajime complains, but he’s smiling. The four of them then start laughing together.

“Anyway, go get your man, you’ve been fucking eyeing him all party long,” Miu says, shoving Kokichi out of the little circle. He heads on to find Shuichi, who’s on the opposite side of the classroom. He passes a few more people (Angie with her Atua bullshit and Rantaro, who both congratulate him), and was surprised by a few more (Tenko, who congratulates him even though he’s a “degenerate male,” and Kaito, who offers him a position as his sidekick, to which he declines), and finally, finally reaches Shuichi.

Kokichi dramatically drapes himself over Shuichi’s body and says, “Shuiiichiii, we’ve been separated all dayyyy.” Shuichi laughs in return. 

“No, it’s really only been fifteen minutes,” he corrects. Kokichi still groans, but pulls away, still practically glowing.

“You know, when we get outta school today, let’s go on a date! I wanna get to know Shuichi better! After I go home and explain the situation to DICE, of course,” he says, excited. Shuichi agrees, giving a nod of consent, and the two of them find an area to relax together. 

Further in the classroom, Nagito rests his head atop Hajime’s shoulder as they sit on a couch.

“I’m glad Yukizome Sensei let us join, even though it feels a bit weird for someone like me to be here,” Nagito murmurs, and Hajime pinches his cheek. Nagito squeaks in protest.

“Hush you, you’re one of Kokichi’s best friends, you deserve every right to be here. Even I think that I’ve grown a lot closer to him, you know? Hajime says. Nagito gives a hum of agreement and sighs.

“This brings me such hope!” He exclaims. Hajime gives Nagito a look that’s filled with fondness and exasperation.

“That’s exactly what you said when you recovered from Hanahaki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That whole thing about pooping out the flowers was made up by me purely because I thought it was funny.
> 
> The last chapter, which will probably come out in around 3 days, is gonna be an epilogue, as I said before. It’s gonna be filled with disgustingly domestic saiouma, so prepare for that!
> 
> Thanks for reading, and kudos/comments/bookmarks are appreciated!


End file.
